Troy Bolton walked down the halls of East High, his new school. Nobody took notice of him and that was the way he liked it, but he knew that would change after they all found out about him. As he neared his locker he saw the most beautiful girl that he had ever seen. She had long dark brown curly hair and chocolate eyes. He stood frozen on the spot as his eyes burnt into her and she moved to face him, sensing someone staring at her. Her eyes looked angry, but they softened when she saw a cute boy with sandy colored hair and piercing blue eyes, she could tell he was new by the way he looked at her.
As Troy tried to move he lost his footing and tumbled to the floor with a crash, which made everyone turn to stare at him. He could feel himself going a dark red, and he kept his eyes on the floor as he began to collect his books off of the floor. Just then a pair of hands handed him the rest of his lost books, when he looked up he noticed it was the girl he had been staring at, the one who had caused him to lose his balance in the first place.
"Thanks," he mumbled and the girl just nodded. The hallways were now filled with students who could not believe that Gabriella Montez was helping the new kid. "I'm Troy."
"Gabriella," she replied and he detected that she didn't think she should be talking to him. "You're new aren't you?" It wasn't a question, it was a statement and Troy nodded mutely. "Well bye," she replied before walking off. As Troy made his way to English he found he kept mumbling her name to himself. He finally got to his class and found that Gabriella was in the same class. He took a seat, trying hard to listen to his teacher, Mrs. Darbus.
"Can anyone tell me the famous person that quoted, "To be or not to be," she asked the class. When no-one raised their hand she started to get annoyed. "Come on people. This is easy people." Troy slowly raised his hand. His head told him not to but he did it anyway. "Mr. Bolton?" the teacher asked curiously.
"It was Shakespeare," he said looking straight ahead.
"Very good. Now can anyone tell me what play it is from?" Once again Troy was the only one that raised his hand. "Yes Mr. Bolton?"
"It was Hamlet," Troy replied and then it started. He could feel everyone staring at him, whispering about him, his head sank to his desk.
At Gabriella's desk, Sharpay turned to her, "Too bad he is smart, he's pretty cute." And Gabriella just nodded. She knew she should be laughing at him, but she couldn't. Something about him made her stomach do flip-flops. She looked over at him and he gave her a little smile but she could tell he was embarrassed.
As school ended that day, she made her way to her locker and bumped into Troy. "Hey, did you maybe want to grab a bite to eat?" she asked him.
"Um… okay," he replied unsure.
"Cool. Let's go," Gabriella said as he followed her out to her car. For the first few minutes they sat in an awkward silence and then the conversation flowed freely. By the end of the night they knew nearly everything about each other. They went out each day after school, but Gabriella was sure to go to places she knew no-one would see them.
By the time Friday came Gabriella was exhausted. Stories were still going around school about Troy being a nerdy know-it-all. When English came that day, they had a reliever. The sub told them to do what they wanted, but quietly. Sharpay, Gabriella and Taylor were talking when suddenly in mid-sentence Sharpay stopped.
"Oh my god, he's coming over here," she whispered and the other two girls looked up to see Troy walking towards them.
"Hey Gabriella can I sit with you three," he asked hopefully.
"Sorry Troy, Sharpay actually has a girl problem, you wouldn't be interested," Gabriella replied. She could see the hurt in his eyes when he mumbled something a left them alone.
"I can't believe he actually talked to you, Gabriella," Taylor said.
"Yeah I know. I mean he is such a nerdy know-it-all," Gabriella replied and she felt horrible for saying it. Just then they heard a scraping sound, they looked up and saw Troy running out of the room, and Gabriella knew that he had heard her.
As school finished, Gabriella waited by her locker for Troy. When he didn't show up she rang his cell, but it went to voicemail and she knew he was ignoring her, and she didn't blame him, she deserved it.
When Troy got home he ran up the stairs and into his room. His parents had gone away for the weekend, so he was alone. The way he liked it, or so he had, before her. He felt his phone vibrate and took it out to see Gabriella staring at him; he rejected her and the many more times she called that night.
By ten o' clock Gabriella was tired of being ignored, no one had ever done it to her before. She threw on some clothes and grabbed her car keys. When she reached his house and rang the doorbell, she grew nervous, but no-one answered. She walked around the back until she found was she was looking for, a light on in a room. She quickly climbed up the tressil and onto the balcony. She quietly pushed open the door, hoping it was Troy's room. It was. At the sound of his door opening, Troy looked up and saw Gabriella standing there.
"What are you doing here? Didn't you get the message? I don't want to see you," he spat.
"I know and I get that but I just wanted to apologize for this morning. I didn't mean it," Gabriella whispered.
"Fine, you have apologized. Now go!" he ordered but she didn't budge.
"Troy please don't be like this, I thought we were friends." And that is when she knew she had made a mistake.
"Friends don't treat people like that. You don't call your friend a nerdy know-it-all. We are not friends… I thought we were but I was wrong. I was probably just a guy your friend dared you to befriend, but I don't need your pity," he yelled.
"Troy that is not true," she sobbed and he knew she was crying.
"Whatever... I thought you were different but I was very wrong," he whispered and before he knew it, he felt her lips on his. They were soft and delicate; his arms automatically went around her waist, whilst hers went through his hair. She slipped her tongue out and moved it across his bottom lip, begging for entry and he granted it, all coherent thoughts removed from his mind. As their tongues dueled, he found out that she tasted like strawberries. When Troy finally came to his senses and remembered the day's events, he pushed her away. "You shouldn't have done that."
"But I wanted too. I want you."
"Well we don't always get what we want," he replied, not looking her in the eye.
"Don't you want it Troy? Don't you want me?" she asked, once again tears formed in her eyes.
"You hurt me Ella. I know that it sounds girly, but you really hurt me when you said those things," Troy whispered.
"I know and if I could take them back, I would. But you have to believe me, I didn't mean it, I swear. I've fallen for you," she said and she whispered the last part so that he had to strain to hear it
"Why did you kiss me?" he asked.
"Because I wanted to show you that we are friends."
"Friends don't do that sort of thing."
"Maybe I want to be more than friends with you," she whispered flirtatiously, but still with tears in her eyes.
"Gabriella, you bagged me out in front of your friends, you're ashamed of me," Troy stated.
"No I'm not! I was confused, I didn't know what I wanted, now I do and if my friends can't accept that then they aren't really my friends. Are they?" she replied. "So now let's get to the point, will you be my boyfriend?"
"I can't. I'm sorry," he replied and he saw the tears roll down her flawless face. "I think you should go," he said and all Gabriella could do was nod as she walked back out of his room. Troy was miserable for the rest of the weekend as he tried to forget about Gabriella. Gabriella on the other hand was making a plan to make Troy jealous. She walked into school on Monday with Jake Jagalski holding onto her hand. He walked her to her locker where Troy was and kissed her cheek. She saw the pained look in his face and it made her feel guilty. When Jake left she turned to him but instead of a jealous look on his face he wore a disgusted look. "Yeah Gabriela you fell for me bad, so bad that you could get over me in two days. I must have meant a great deal to you," he said before walking away.
"Troy wait!" She cried, running after him.
"Go to hell Gabriella!" he yelled back, and the whole student body gasped. No one had ever talked to Gabriella Montez that way, especially a nerd and she was just standing there and taking it. "Like I said Friday night, I thought you were different from all the others. I thought you were kind and sensitive and special but you're just a selfish little rich kid who thinks nothing of other people's feelings. You're cruel and unkind and I can't see why this school would treat someone like you like a princess, you disgust me," he finished and he saw Gabriella crying silently. Sharpay came up to him with an angry look on her face.
"You can't talk to her like that! You have no right," she yelled.
"Back off Barbie," he said and Sharpay looked shocked.
"Leave it Sharpay he's right. I am selfish and cruel and people shouldn't treat me like a princess I haven't earned it. I'm sorry that I hurt you Troy, I honestly didn't mean too," Gabriella said quietly. Troy walked up to her slowly as everyone looked in and he leaned over so only she could hear what he was going to say and she felt tingles when his hot breath hit her skin.
"You did hurt me Gabriella, but not as much as you broke my heart. I've been hurt by lots of people and you're just one to add to a very long list." And with that he walked away. Gabriella fell into Taylor's embrace and sobbed quietly on her friend's shoulder. For the rest of the day Troy avoided Gabriella at all costs. She tried to speak to him but he dodged her and her posse. At the end of the day she beat him to their lockers so he couldn't avoid her but he just ignored her.
"Please Troy let me explain," she begged.
"I don't want to hear it Gabriella," he said and she cringed at the way he said her name. "I was gonna give you a chance this morning, I was going to see if maybe you wanted to try again maybe as friends first and then maybe I could trust you enough to start something with you, but instead you got over me, you moved on so now it's time for me to move on," he said turning away from her.
"No!" she yelled and pulled him back to her crashing her lips onto his. His anger instantly melted as she thrust her tongue into his mouth, connecting with his own. All coherent thoughts left him as he pushed her up against their lockers and she wrapped her legs around him. She could feel his arousal against her thigh as his kisses moved down her jaw to her collar bone. She moved her hands from his hair to under his shirt and felt his toned abs eliciting a moan from him. That was when he came crashing back down to reality. He pulled away from her and set her on the floor. "Don't move on please. I haven't. I only wanted you to see this morning that you really did want to be with me and this proves it Troy. I can feel it when you kiss me and if you don't believe that then believe the bulging thing I felt against my thigh," Gabriella whispered and Troy turned bright red.
"I can't be with you Gabriella. I don't trust you and you can't have a relationship without trust," Troy replied.
"Well what about a friendship first? until I can prove to you that you can trust me," Gabriella pleaded.
"Okay we can be friends," Troy said and Gabriella beamed. "But that means no kissing." And Gabriella pouted. Friendship went well for them. They hung out together everyday and most nights but there was no kissing. Four weeks after their friendship restarted they were going to a party at Sharpay's and Troy was going to tell Gabriella that he trusted her but he spoke too soon. Half way into the night and Gabriella was nearly drunk and when Troy left to get her a glass of water Jake came up to dance with her.
"Gabriella I don't think you want to do this," Taylor said to her knowing what Troy was going to tell her.
"It's fine Tay," Gabriella said but she spoke too soon for as soon as Troy walked back into the room, Jake pulled Gabriella close and kissed her. Troy saw red. He marched over to them and pulled Jake off of her before punching him in the face. Gabriella moved over to Troy but he pushed her away.
"That was your last chance Bella and you blew it," he said before walking away. Soon after that Gabriella passed out and Taylor drove her back to her house for a sleep over. When she awoke the next morning she was shocked to find herself in Taylor's room.
"Tay why am I here? I thought Troy was going to take me home," Gabriella asked her friend.
"Don't you remember what happened Gabi?" Taylor asked and Gabriella shook her head. "You blew your only chance last night. Troy was going to tell you that he trusted you, but when he went to get you a drink you started dancing with Jake. I asked you if you were sure you wanted to do it and you said yes. Then when Troy came back in Jake kissed you, Troy saw him, pulled him off of you and punched him. Then he said that was your last chance Bella and you blew it," Taylor explained.
"Oh my God he must hate me," Gabriella cried picking up her phone and dialing his number. When he had rejected her for the eighth time she rang his house phone and his mom answered. "Hi Mrs. Bolton is Troy there?"
"Is this Gabriella?" his mom asked.
"Yes," she replied.
"I'm sorry but Troy told me under no circumstances was I to let you talk to him. I'm sorry sweetie," Mrs. Bolton replied.
"That's okay. Thanks anyway," Gabriella sobbed, hanging up the phone. "He's never going to forgive me Tay and I don't blame him," she cried. For three months she tried to make it up to him. She didn't go out with anyone else and she rang him three times a day even though he never answered, she wrote him numerous letters that went unanswered and then out of the blue they were in English and he passed her a note. She was so shocked she nearly fell off of her seat.
"Miss Montez is everything okay?" the teacher asked.
"Yes everything is fine miss," she answered before unfolding the note revealing two words…you're forgiven. She looked over at him but he was copying down notes. When the bell rang signaling the end of class she waited for him. "What does this mean?"
"It means that I've missed you. I've missed your touch, your laugh, your kisses," he said quietly and then before he had time to change his mind he pulled her closer and kissed her, He licked her lip asking for permission and he smiled into her mouth as she granted it.
\